‘Desperate Housewives’ Ends with Season 8

Wisteria Lane is in mourning: ABC has canceled the long-running and popular series “Desperate Housewives” after 8 years. The officially announcement is expected to drop tomorrow, Sunday, at a press event for the upcoming eighth season.

In April this year, fans let out a collective sigh of relief as they learned that the castmembers of the show were in talks for a brand new season, since it confirmed their hope that another, the eighth, would be made.

Not only that, but a ninth was also announced, with the leading ladies getting a special clause in their newly negotiated contracts for it.

Now, Deadline has learned that there will be no more “Desperate Housewives” after season 8, which premieres this fall.

“We’ve just learned that ABC will announce on Sunday at the Television Critics Association’s press tour that this 2011-2012 season will be the last for long-running Desperate Housewives,” the publication says, noting that the 120+ million fan community must be taking the news pretty hard.

Until the official announcement is made, producers are busy talking to everyone on the show and breaking the sad news to them.

“Key castmembers are starting to be told, and we hear that Teri Hatcher, Felicity Huffman, Marcia Cross, and Eva Longoria are shocked and saddened since the ABC Studios series created by Marc Cherry was expected to continue until 2013 after the longtime showrunner had said that he wanted the show to go for 9 seasons,” Deadline reports.

“ABC also contracted with the show’s four stars for the next season after lengthy salary negotiations with the quartet this past season. In addition to signing them for this coming season, ABC also got options on them for Season 9,” notes the e-zine.

Marc Cherry’s departure seems to have changed all this. The eighth season will be the first without him, which may have contributed to ABC’s decision to pull the plug on the entire project.